Macaroni PenguinPhotos, Pictures, Prints

View macaroni penguin photos, license macaroni penguin stock pictures, and buy stunning macaroni penguin prints by award winning professional photographer Jon Cornforth. To license an image for editorial or commercial use, click on the License Image button and fill out the form. To purchase a fine art print, select your image size and presentation style before clicking on the Buy Print button.

Eudyptes chrysolophus

The macaroni penguin (Eudyptes chrysolophus) is a species of penguin that lives from the Subantarctic to the Antarctic Peninsula. Notably, this penguin displays a distinctive yellow crest. Meanwhile, its face and upperparts are black. These are sharply delineated from the bird’s white underparts.

Adults weigh on average 5.5 kg (12 lb) and are 70 cm (28 in) in length. However, the male is slightly larger, with a relatively larger bill. Like all penguins, it is flightless. Also like other penguins, it has a streamlined body as well as wings stiffened and flattened into flippers. Due to this, penguins “fly” underwater.

This bird’s diet consists of a variety of crustaceans, mainly krill, as well as small fish and cephalopods. Amazingly, this species consumes more marine life annually than any other species of seabird.

Numbering up to 100,000 individuals, the breeding colonies of the this bird are among the largest and densest of all penguin species. A 2009 study found that macaroni penguins from Kerguelen travelled over 10,000 km (6,200 mi) in the central Indian Ocean. With about 18 million individuals, this penguin is the most numerous penguin species.

Explore with Cornforth Images.